Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1887-03-02
)DSTOCK, VT, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 1887.

| stovcplpc. By ana py IL caNic W n'o
that he was an insane man, and for hall
minute shut my eyes and had the
hardest kind of a fight to keep from
lanting away. When I opened them
he was regarding me with cunning
lccr, and directly he said:
"You think you will run away from
school, but l shall have my eyes on you
all the time. School will now begin"
He went to my desk and lang the
handbcll in vigorous manner, picked
up ruler and book, and then, stand
ing in front of the desk he, said to me;
"Class in orthography come forward"
While as l told you, | was terribly
frightened, Ihad the presence Of mind
to understand that had luuatic to
deal with, and that he must be humorcd.
When he had repeated his command a
second time went forward to a rccita-
tion bench, and he began giving out
words for me to spell. The 'lesson"
was not half over when my belief in his
insanity was confirmed. After the first
few words he began to pronounced back
ward. When he gave out the word
unicorn he pronounced it "cornuni."
When Igavc it the right pronunciation
and began TO spell it in a proper way he
interrupted me with:
"Stop! The world has been going on
too fast for the last fifty years, and must
stop, or be thrown off its axis. We
must 90 backward where we can."
In pursuance of his theory he pro-
nounccd the word "fulfl' as "flful,"
and humorcd him by spelling words
that way. After about half an hour he
laid the book down, complimenting me
on my smartncss, and during recess Of
five minutes he walked up and down the
floor, with his head down and his arms
behind him, like one in deep thought.
Thus far he had betrayed no temper nor
sign of violence, and began to breathe
easier. even calculated that it mi ight
be possible to trick him. He presently
called me up to rccitc in geography, and
here his insanity was still more apparent.
When lie asked me what an island was,
and received the answer as given in the
lesson, he struck the desk with his ruler
and exclaimed
'It is not so. We have been fools.
An island is a hill 200 hundred feet high,
and these hypocrtcs knew it all the
time"
1t was II o'clock at night before he
ceased asking questions in geography.
Then asked for permission to 90 home
and get my slate pencil. He accorded
it, but as | reached the locked door he
called:
mo, you can't go. You are one Of
the children who spit on the floor to-day,
and shall keep you here"
From II to II sat in a chair near the
stove while he paced up and down and
muttcred and munbled in strange way
to himself. Whenever the fire got low
rcplcnishcd it without objections from
him, nor did he seem aware of the storm
raging outside. Just after midnight he
made me work examples OF the black
board for an hour, and once or twice
bccamc very much cXcitcl. According
to his theory | must not figure that two
and two made four, but that the total
was nothing. This was setting the
world back After q rest we had q rcci-
tation in grammar, another in reading,
and at o'clock he rang the bell, and
calmly observed;
"Chidrcn, school is dismissed. To-
morrow being Saturday. there will be no
school,"
Then, without even seeming to be
aware of my presence, he put on his
ovcrcoat, drew his cap over his cars, and
passed out into the storm and left me
alone. | lost no time in locking the
doors behind him, and it was not until
daylight that l got over the fcai of his
return. Soon after daybrcak Uncle Billy
came for me, having been detained the
day before by SEX horse, and sending
me message which was not delivered.
We had scarcely finished breakfast when
the dead and frozen body Of my crazy
schoolmastcr was brought in. He was,
in truth, an old schoolmastcr, an | had
gone insane and been confined in an
asylum. at Cleveland. Escaping from
the place, he went trampng over the
country and walked in upon me in the
queer manner | have related. - New
York Sun.